Blue state mayor on defensive over 'inhumane' plan to evict hundreds of migrants

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against critics who have called the city’s plan to evict hundreds of migrants from the city’s shelter system "inhumane."

"People said it's inhumane to put people out during the wintertime, so now they say it's inhumane to do it in the summertime. It's humane to do it in the springtime. It's humane to do in the fall time," Adams said in response to critics, according to a report by Fox 5. "It's always inhumane to have to not be able to house 198,000 people."

The mayor’s comments come as he readies to evict about 250 adult migrants from shelters this week who have reached their 30- or 60-day shelter limit and have not proven they face extenuating circumstances to find housing.

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The move comes as migrants continue to arrive in the city, with over 1,300 new migrants reaching New York City last week, according to the Fox 5 report.

Adams argued that the city has been forced to act to save shelter space amid the continued influx.

"If we would not have done anything, we would have had 198,000 people still in our care instead of 65,000," Adams said.

Asylum seekers line up in front of the historic Roosevelt Hotel, converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived migrant families in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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Alfonso Aguilar, the director of Hispanic Engagement at the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital that the situation faced by the migrants in New York City is inhumane, though he didn’t point the blame toward the city or Adams.

"It’s the result of the inhumane policies of the Biden administration," Aguilar said. "He is allowing an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants to enter the country, knowing that our cities and communities don’t have the capacity to receive them and provide for their most basic needs."

Aguilar argued that the administration has not treated the thousands of arriving migrants "like human beings," but has instead treated them like "cattle" in an attempt to "appease his most radical base."

"And it’s truly ironic that when he campaigned for president he promised to build a moral and humane system," Aguilar said. "What he has done instead is create a colossal humanitarian crisis that puts the lives and safety of millions of people at risk."

Single migrant men, mostly from West Africa, congregate in Tompkins Square Park as volunteers give away food and clothing, January 27, 2024, in the East Village neighborhood of New York City.  (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

For their part, New York City officials insist they aren’t leaving evicted migrants without resources, arguing that they continue to help asylum seekers navigate their next steps as their shelter time expires.

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"We are giving them Information, we are connecting them to resources, and we are talking to them about what those next steps are going to be," Camille Joseph Varlack, chief of staff with the mayor's office, told Fox 5.